The present invention relates to a light source for instruments used to illuminate a surface or cavity, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a portable, disposable (i.e., single use) or reusable (i.e., capable of being sterilized) light source for such instruments.
Endoscopes, lighted retractors, and like instruments may be used in a hospital, health care facility, or the like, for instance, to illuminate a cavity or surface of a patient. Such instruments are typically attached to a stationary light source unit that remains in one location during use or is fastened to a rolling cart or the like and that transmits light to the instrument via a fiber optic cable that tethers the instrument to the stationary light source unit. This conventional arrangement can be inconvenient and cumbersome during use. For instance, this arrangement necessarily requires the operator to manage a cumbersome light source cart within limited available space and relatively heavy and cumbersome fiber optic cables. In addition, the cables and related equipment must be subjected to expensive and time consuming sterilization processes between each use.